Nigerian and other international students have been banned from bringing family members to the UK unless they are on PhD courses, in a crackdown announced by country’s Home Secretary, Suella Braverman ahead of expected record immigration statistics.
Under current rules, only students enrolling on full-time, postgraduate courses lasting nine months or longer can bring family members with them to the UK. Those students can bring their partner and any children under the age of 18, and must prove they have at least £680 per month to support each of their dependents.
However, announcing the ban on Tuesday, May 23, Braverman said family members of foreign students will no longer be allowed to live in the UK.
Making the announcement, the Home Secretary said;
“The UK is a top destination for the brightest students to learn at some of the world’s best universities. But we have seen an unprecedented rise in the number of student dependents being brought into the country with visas.
“It is time for us to tighten up this route to ensure we can cut migration numbers and meet the government’s pledge to the British people to cut net migration.”
Also commenting on the recent ban, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said;
“Attracting the top students from around the world isn’t just good for our universities – it’s essential for our economy and building vital global relationships. But the number of family members being brought to the UK by students has risen significantly.
“It is right we are taking action to reduce this number while maintaining commitment to our International Education Strategy, which continues to enrich the UK’s education sector and make a significant contribution to the wider economy.”
Ms Braverman said they will also remove the right for foreign students to switch out on to work visas during their studies, amid concerns that some people have been taking advantage of the system. The Government will also crack down on “unscrupulous education agents” selling “immigration not education” to international students.
The changes are due to take effect in January 2024, with the Home Office set to implement delivery plans in the coming months.
It comes after international students brought 136,000 dependents with them to the UK last year, marking an eightfold increase compared to 2019. Ms Braverman announced the new measures ahead of net immigration figures due to be published on Thursday, May 25.
It is understood that Ms Braverman is focusing on foreign students as a more achievable method of shrinking overall migration numbers while the Government scrambles to get a grip on illegal immigration.
The Home Secretary said on Tuesday that the clampdown on foreign student visas “strikes the right balance between acting decisively on tackling net migration and protecting the economic benefits that students can bring to the UK”.
Ms Braverman had been pushing for a wider crackdown on international students, but that her proposals had been successfully fought off by other Cabinet ministers.
Both Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, and Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, warned that tougher measures would inflict major damage on the British economy and drive international students to seek courses elsewhere.
A report published last week by London Economics calculated that international students boosted the UK economy by an estimated £41.9bn last year – jumping about a third over the past three years.
Home Office figures published last year showed that some foreign students brought up to six family members with them in the year to June 2022, with huge variations by nationality.
Chinese students made up the largest percentage of foreign students who came to the UK in the year to June, but brought the smallest number of dependents with them. In total, 114,837 Chinese students came to study in Britain last year, bringing with them a total of 401 dependents.
By contrast, 34,031 Nigerian students came to the UK last year, seven per cent of the total figure, but brought 31,898 dependents with them. Meanwhile, 93,049 Indian students came to Britain with 24,916 dependents.
UK’s Home Secretary Suella Braverman accused of fresh ministerial rules breach over undisclosed charity links to Rwanda
UK’s Home Secretary, Suella Braverman is facing fresh allegations of ministerial code breaches over her failure to formally disclose years of previous work with the Rwandan government.
The home secretary is already facing accusations of breaking the ministerial code after the Sunday Times revealed that she asked her staff to help her dodge a speeding fine.
Ms Braverman is facing further pressure after she failed to disclose that she co-founded a charity called the Africa Justice Foundation which worked with several key members of President Paul Kagame’s government who are involved in the UK’s £140m deal to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Ms Braverman did not officially disclose her previous links to the country when appointed home secretary in 2022, despite ongoing legal challenges alleging politically-driven human rights violations including torture, murder and kidnappings.
MPs raised concerns about the Home Secretary’s links to Rwanda during a Commons urgent question on the speed awareness course accusations.
SNP MP Joanna Cherry, chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, questioned whether the Home Secretary’s “rosy-eyed view” of Rwanda’s human rights record had “anything to do with her undisclosed links” to the East African nation’s government in Kigali.
She and her SNP frontbench colleague Kirsty Blackman said that Ms Braverman’s charity work in Rwanda should be included in any investigation into her alleged breaches of the ministerial code ordered by Rishi Sunak.
Two former official standards chiefs told The Independent that Ms Braverman’s failure to disclose her co-founding with Cherie Blair of the Africa Justice Foundation, which trained Rwandan government lawyers between 2010, could be a breach of the ministerial code.
Sir Alistair Graham and Sir Alex Allan said Ms Braverman should have at least declared the work to senior Home Office officials given she has responsibility for the controversial policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda.
The Independent reported that 19 of the lawyers trained by Ms Braverman’s charity now held positions in Paul Kagame’s Rwandan government and that some are involved in the Government’s £140m deal to send asylum seekers to the country.
Ms Braverman resigned from her post as director of the Africa Justice Foundation weeks before being elected to parliament, and did not declare her previous role to Home Office permanent secretary Matthew Rycroft last year.
A source close to the home secretary said it was not necessary for her to disclose her previous work, adding: “This was charity work carried out by Ms Braverman before she was an MP, and for which she wasn’t paid.”
But the omission will spark fresh questions over her conduct as Rishi Sunak considers launching a formal investigation into a speeding scandal, just seven months after she resigned for breaking the ministerial code through her use of official documents.
